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Against the odds, the little battlers of the Derwent, its penguins, are maintaining a flipper-hold in what has been their home for millennia. On a cruise around the river and wider estuary in mid-August I was pleasantly surprised to count several rafts of little penguins on open water stretching from the shores of Tranmere to the south, to within sight of the zinc factory to the north. The convenor of BIrdLife Tasmania, Eric Woehler, confirms that the penguins appear to be … [Read more...] about Little battler survives in mankind’s world

The frost sparkled on the lawn, winter refusing to loosen its grip. Still, the song of spring rang out from the hedgerows in my valley and later from the woodland of the Waterworks Reserve. The first of the summer migrants, the striated pardalote, had arrived. In recent years I have been hearing the pardalote’s “pick it up, pick it up” song earlier and earlier. In the 17 years I have lived in the Waterworks Valley I have always timed it for the final week of August, just … [Read more...] about Striated pardalotes arrive early

About five years ago I added a new species to my bird sightings at the Waterworks Reserve in South Hobart – the humble coot. Because the Eurasian coot was so familiar during my youth in Britain more than half a century ago I never paid them much attention when I first saw them in Australia. But to see them at my local reserve for the first time was notable, especially as one pair raised chicks that first year. I now learn from the 2017 Tasmanian Bird Report – a marvellous … [Read more...] about Humble coot turns heads

Handsome, striking; a male peregrine falcon, the fastest creature known to nature, perched amid the tangle and chaos of the human world, sitting atop a lamp tower on the Tasman Bridge. He sits upright, jerking his head about him. Looking up, looking down, his eyes following the flight of starlings arrowing towards their winter night roosts on the bridge’s concrete spans. They are returning at day’s end from feeding forays into the country. The starlings know the peregrine … [Read more...] about Chaotic world belonging to man and beast

My television birdwatching has reached new heights in recent weeks with the return of Game of Thrones. To be honest, I’m more of a Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul viewer myself with a little “Nordic noir” thrown in, and I had so far resisted the demands of my family to make each episode of the fantasy saga a family experience. That was until I heard the cry of a raven. My ears pricked up and I was hooked. By some remarkable coincidence – although in my experience, … [Read more...] about No dark wings and dark words here